Summary: Life can get dark. And that darkness can create doubt and fear in our lives. What can we do when life gets hard and there doesn't seem to be anyway out of the difficulties we face?

OPEN: One woman told about her favorite spot at the local zoo. It was an exhibit called the House of Night. It was a place where you could see creatures of the night that would crawl and fly about, but because it held creatures of the night… it was nearly totally dark.

She said that one very bright day, she stepped into the exhibit and (of course) was instantly plunged into total darkness. Almost immediately (she said) “a small hand grabbed mine.”

Smiling, she asked “And who do you belong to?”

A little boy, in a very quiet voice said: “I’m yours… till the lights come on.”

(Connie Lavoie, R.Digest 3/09 p. 165)

There are a lot of people who have trouble with the dark. Children especially are notorious for that kind of fear, but adults can struggle with it as well.

ILLUS: A friend of mine went thru a very difficult divorce and she ended up living in an upstairs apartment in the middle of town. She was very lonely and for the first 6 months she had difficulty sleeping because she was afraid of the dark. Even months afterward, the only way she could get to sleep was if she had a night light on.

People OFTEN fear the dark.

The dark is a filled with the “unknown”, and with anxiety and uncertainty.

Scientists have even found that if a person spends too much time in the dark can suffer with a condition they call SAD syndrome. That’s an appropriate acronym because those who suffer from it often become moody and depressed. SAD is an acronym for “seasonal affective disorder” because it often happens in winter.